Good Author Website Examples for Inspiration

Researching material for this article, I searched hundreds of websites. One thing that became apparent is that most of the websites started to look the same. I made a list of the author website examples that I thought had credibility and provided readers with great content. I must say, most of the websites weren’t memorable and I won’t be returning to visit them.

Why weren’t they memorable?

When I was viewing all these websites, I was looking at them through the eyes of a new reader having found a new author. But when visiting many of the websites I saw some obvious trends.

The lack of credibility. They didn’t look like they took themselves seriously. No professional photos, no visual branding or messaging. Nothing about their website gave me the impression it was worth me spending my precious, limited and valuable time (or anyone else’s) checking out.

No compelling content. There was no interesting or compelling content that I could read to build trust with this author. If I don’t “buy in” on the author and see value being provided, I’m certainly not going to visit Amazon and part with my hard earned green.

Mixed messaging. Sometimes the author was talking exclusively about writing, clearly directed at other writers. A lack of thought about their “target buying audience”. For the most part, writers aren’t your buying audience and are only looking for info that will serve them. Parents and children aren’t interested in the difference between a pronoun and how to use them. They want to be entertained.

Become the Purple Cow

The selection of websites below are what stood out to me. Authors who take their writing careers seriously. Different authors both traditional and independently published who clearly love what they do and are creatively and cleverly getting their messages out there.

Above all, they stood out and I returned to visit more than once. They were the Purple Cows in the paddock. Purple Cow is a term marketing maven Seth Godin talks about in his excellent book called Purple Cow. In a nutshell, it’s about how you need to stand out.

As Seth says; it’s about being remarkable. Doing your thing differently to what others are doing. Doing things that others won’t do. In this case, create a valuable destination for your reader which compliments their love for your books.

Author website examples

I follow Tim myself and I have his books. In between books Tim shares some of the best information, stories, case studies and experiments I’ve seen come from any website. He knows his audience incredibly well, and he creates content that they’ll eat up.

Anytime he talks about himself, it’s always in the context of sharing results or antidotes that his readers can take away and implement or learn from. His book branding is fantastic. It’s consistent and recognisable.

What else does he do right:

Builds his email list

Books are very clear and accessible on his website

Provides content via audio and video (the four hour body book trailer is arguably the best I’ve seen)

Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project) – Best selling nonfiction author about happiness and its effect on people’s lives.

Gretchen pretty much ticks all the boxes when it comes to author websites. From weekly articles providing tips and information on happiness and the impact you can have on others.

As soon as you land on her website you can see this website has incredible value to offer. You can see Gretchin’s professional photo right away and a little about her message. On the home page she has a big clear box to build her email list of super fans. You can click on the ‘read more’ button to see a video of Gretchin’s introduction to what you’ll get inside. Fantastic!

Gretchin clearly understands the importance of building her email list of super fans. I could write a whole blog about her website. Instead, go check it out for yourself and remember your note pad!

When you land on Tristan’s website, you have no question what sort of books he writes. It’s a cool, fun website that has energy and you feel you can really connect with him through his about page which includes a personal video and fun facts. He’s really considered who his audience is.

Happy and fun is the theme of Robin’s website, and like Tristan there’s no question who her target audience is. Robin knows her target market is children and parents, but understands that parents and teachers are the ones that buy the books. A significant effort has been made to provide value with the addition of teachers notes and activities. Her books are easy to find and she keeps the website updated regularly.

Like Robin’s, Deborah’s website is really colourful and eye-catching. This is to emit a fun and cool vibe as a first impression. There’s been great care taken with the layout of the website and offers entertaining content such as videos and teachers resources. A website like this draws you in to discover what else there is lying around. I love that, and it helps Deborah’s website be memorable.

The website of Sherrilyn Kenyon has a very foreboding feel about it, which no doubt resonates with her readers because it represents the tone of her books well. A different layout to the others with her books front and center. Straight away I noticed she has her own unique logo made up of her initials, very cool. Some of her fans have tattoos of this!

Being a widely known author, she has a countdown clock until her next book release in the top right. This is a good way of keeping your readers coming back again to check on how much time remains. If you scroll down you’ll see a slick book trailer, a gallery of images of her characters, video, audio and free downloads.

What else does she do right:

Resources page with plenty of info for teachers, librarians and re-sellers

Highlights things her fans have done

Visible ‘themed’ social icons for connecting socially

Andy Andrews – A best-selling nonfiction author about life change, personal growth and world change

What doesn’t Andy offer from his mega author website? Andy has been a published author for over a decade now, yet is embracing the online world of today and tomorrow to build his platform and audience.

Very prominent on this website is a personal introduction video which kicks off his engagement and connection with you nicely. He clearly knows the importance of building his email list of super fans with a very enticing subscribe form on the left which is designed to be consistent of his visual branding. Something you rarely see these days. Andy provides regular videos, interviews, articles and has a podcast show, all serving as different touch points for finding new readers. The question is, where do you start?

What else does he do right:

A really polished free e-book for subscribers

Detailed ‘About’ pages

Provides content via audio and video

Book bundle offers

Take your author website to the next level

Do take some time to make some notes and how you can increase the value you provide your audience. There’s something all of us can improve on, but you have to take action.

If you know of any great author websites please share with a comment below.

7 Responses to Good Author Website Examples for Inspiration

Hi Lee. What you could do is have your main name you write under as your ‘AuthorName.com’. Then you could have a drop down menu under ‘books’ where you can have a sub-heading with your alter ego pen name with those books listed under that page. This would work for adult fiction, such as Adventure and then mystery. If you are writing radically different books such as a children’s picture book and then a non-fiction book about finance, then you’d have two separate websites offering very different content, for two very different audiences.

[…] has a clear focal point and direction. Another mistake is being scared of white space: don’t be. Strategically used white space ensures your page is clear and uncluttered, which allows for your visitors to be immediately […]

3 years later and this post found me! It was exactly what I was looking for. I’m hoping to build up my personal brand website (since right now I only run Teen Authors Journal). A bit hard to come up with content for static pages, since I’m used to blogs. But I will certainly check out the links you shared and see what I can steal 😉